Half life: Revolution
by Zachary S
Summary: War...War in the streets...city 23, much like the nearby city 17, has turned into a blood bath. various characters take their part in the fight in and around 23.


Half life: Revolution

The rain came down hard on the cobblestone streets of city 23, everything else was silent except for the steady clopping of footsteps at a hard run… several of them. A group of resistance ran beside a high brick wall. Most of them carried smg's and 9mm pistols taken from fallen civil protection.

Suddenly a loud noise like a siren of another world was heard. One of the resistance, a man with gold hair and a disheveled look, as though he hadn't shaved or showered in several days, yelled out some warning that was lost in the deafening explosion.

The resistance emerged from the smoke still running, behind them, a massive hole had been shot into the wall, and they had left behind three of their comrades. One was dead, another was wounded, and only his best friend had stopped to help. As he helped the groaning man to his feet, a hunter-chopper suddenly flew over the top of some buildings and cut them both down.

The remaining five resistance members reached their goal, a large apartment complex, and ran inside. The stood around and took in the grim sights. They were standing in a small opening area, not quite a room, not quite a hallway, there were two bodies, resistance, as well as several charred pieces of metal. There was also a man sitting up, covered in mostly dried blood and in obvious pain.

The Golden haired man, the leader of the group, stepped over to the wounded man. Hey, are you ok? He asked. The wounded man looked up. Yeah, its painful, but the bullets went through, so I think I'm fine for the moment. Ok, good, we are gonna get a medic to you in just a minute, but I need to know where the rest your unit is.

He hated having to hold off medics, but the simple fact was that when wounded people had help they weren't very cooperative. He wanted to know where the rest of the resistance was. About twelve hours ago, a man had radioed in saying that he had twenty fighters pinned up in this building, and he needed one more squad before he'd make the push to topple the Combine outpost in this part of the city.

Dead or gone. The wounded man said plainly. What? But, we just spent the last six hours going through buildings and dodging hunter-choppers to get here! Well, the wounded man said, we didn't account for certain…factors. Like what? Well, about eight hours ago, they released man hacks into the building, which managed to kill about seven or eight of us.

Then, we finally managed to destroy all of those, but we had been so busy we hadn't noticed the snipers moving into position on the north side of the building, and they got a few more, and by that time the whole place descended into everyone trying to get out as man hacks tore the place apart.

The golden haired man sighed and then stood up. My names carter by the way, said the wounded man. Mine's Mac, said the golden haired man, friends call me big Mac. Riley stepped forward a little, oh and this here is Riley, she's the sweet heart that's gonna take care of you for the next couple of hours. Damn suppression field, Carter replied with a grin, as she kneeled down to help him.

Thompson, you stay here and guard them until Carter here is stabilized, and then move them into the building a bit, Dimitri, Carson, and I will move in and secure a base of operations, I think we are gonna be here for a little while.

Dimitri silently swept into the next room. Nothing… as his compatriots moved in behind him he swept into the next room… this one a large open one, probably a forum, and found nothing except a body.

He stopped as soon as he checked the door and found no threats. Mac, this is as good a base as any, he said in a low voice. Dimitri was a bear of a man, with a mountain man beard and enough muscles to scare off a hunter.

All of this belied the fact that he was silent as a ghost, and spoke only in low tones, usually not for small talk. He was Mac's most experienced fighter, and his best friend. Well, if you say so Dimitri, Carson said casually, a young man of only twenty-two, he was dangly and under muscled, due to his only recent escape from combine rule.

Dimitri had taken Carson under his wing as of late, and the man seemed to treat anything Dimitri said as tactical gospel. Which in retrospect it was, so Mac didn't judge too harshly. Dimitri took the heavy pack off and began assembling the teams radio.

Just then, Riley came in supporting Carter's weight and set him down on a cardboard bed laying nearby. Thompson? Mac asked. Guarding the door, Riley replied with a smile as she set down to rest. She was pretty, with brunette hair and a nice smile, and she was a damn good medic. However, as Mac had often noted, her gentle nature made her a poor fighter. She held a 9mm pistol in her holster as well as several clips, but she had barely used it, defensive purposes only, she said.

Just then the radio crackled to life, and they were blasted with what was obviously the latest news update…._ and it seems that the combine are losing ground in almost every sector of the city, be aware of man hacks that the combine have taken to releasing inside resistance strongholds within the city….wait a minute….it cant be! We are just getting word the Gordon Freeman has downed the suppression field! City 17 is far from secure but it seems well on its way. Signing off, we would like to remind you that man hacks are being sent into resistance strongholds. _Mac grabbed the radio and switched to one of the tactical channels, before speaking into it. This is Big 23 to HQ, do you read? The radio immediately crackled to life once more…._ its about god damn time! Where the hell are you guys? _Sorry, it took longer than expected. _why has radio contact been lost with our strike force? _The strike force isn't here…._ what! Where in the hell are they? _it was apparently shattered by snipers and man hacks. _Damn it! We have already got the other half of the strike force in place…. I don't need to tell you how important this is. If we can topple them, the Stalkers, hunter choppers, snipers, all lose their coordination. They will be flying blind….. Can you make the strike alone? _

Mac looked around at his team… they were battered and tired, most of them had seen friends die, killed people, and done horrific things in the name of freedom…. It was nasty, dirty business, urban warfare was… and he had no doubt they could do it. He spoke into the mike once more.Give me a couple of hours to rest my team, then we will be on the move. _Roger that, this is gonna be a bitch, but I will see what help I can get you on the fly, HQ out. _

Mac sighed, he knew this was gonna be one hell of a strike, but it had to get done. Dimitri, assign guard posts and let everyone else get some rest, then in two hours wake me and I will take charge of the second shift. With that Mac laid down on one of the cardboard beds, and soon fell into sleep.


End file.
